


Hold My Hand

by stitchpelekai



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Punk Bucky Barnes, Tattoo Artist Steve Rogers, Texting, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23512207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stitchpelekai/pseuds/stitchpelekai
Summary: Things go awry the first time that Bucky tries to propose to Steve.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	Hold My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> (reposted)
> 
> I'm a huge sucker for modern au Stucky fics with pre-serum Steve as a tattoo artist and Bucky being the giant nerd that he is. So here we are.

Bucky grinned to himself as he texted Natasha. He stopped walking and stepped off to the side of the sidewalk to stand under the overhang of an apartment building. No reason to walk and text again. Not after the last time when Steve tripped him on purpose just to see if he would fall.

\--------------------------------

Bucky: got the date planned  
Nat: Good! It's about time.  
Bucky: I hope I don't fuck this up  
Nat: You'll be fine. He'll say yse and then the two of you can have a geeky weeding you both deserve. Relax.  
Bucky: hey, we rock our geekiness  
Nat: I know you do.

\--------------------------------

Bucky put his phone away before walking to the front door of the tattoo shop, Odinson and Rogers. Steve should be done by now; though the brunet would be more than happy to drag him out the door if he needed to.

Steve and Thor Odinson had both opened the shop as partners only two years previously. After having been friends for almost as long as Bucky and Steve had known each other, it had made amazing sense to the two tattoo artists to set up their own shop together. They had worked hard to establish it as a respectable place with quality artists and art alike.

Bucky was more than happy to say that they had done a damn fine job of it.

“Hey Bucky!” Darcy said. The brunet woman, visible skin covered in a fair amount of tattoos, was in the room directly to the left of the door, cleaning her equipment.

“Hey Darcy. You know if Steve’s almost done?”

“Yeah, he should be in the back.” Darcy said. She gave him a knowing wink to which he replied with a salute.

He headed to the back of the shop, where the break room was. A blond head was bent over a large sketch pad at the table that was pushed against the far wall. It was a pretty common sight. Steve could be found sketching at just about any time of day when he had some free time or work to finish up for a new tattoo.

Bucky knocked against the door frame, grabbing Steve’s attention. The blond broke into a happy grin, seeing it was Bucky.

“Just give me a minute and then we can head out.” Steve said. He closed his sketchbook and slid it into the well-worn messenger bag that was on the table next to him.

The two left the tattoo shop, waving to Darcy as they passed her. “Have fun kids!” she yelled as the door shut.

Bucky took Steve’s hand as they headed their usual route, turning off onto a different road. Steve rose a brow but Bucky only smiled in return.

“Surprise date night.”

The blond gave his hand a squeeze. “Sounds nice.”

The restaurant that Bucky led them to was a cute little place, with a few tables pushed into a small, gated off area out front of the building. The inside was painted in warm tones of red and orange. It wasn’t too crowded inside thanks to it being just early enough to avoid the usual dinner crowd.

Bucky gave his name to the hostess as they walked in. They were seated pretty quickly by their waitress, a 20-something woman named Grace, and left to look over their menus.

Bucky couldn’t help the wide smile on his face that was luckily hidden by the menu he was holding in front of his face. He had probably been looking like a love-struck fool for the entirety of the day; but no one could really fault him for that.

Bucky felt a foot nudge his under the table. He glanced at Steve over the menu with a knowing look.

Steve only shot him a playful grin before closing his own menu. “I know what I’m getting. How about you?”

“Yeah, just some of their chicken alfredo. That sounds really good right now.”

The blond laughed a little. “That’s what you always get.”

“Not always! I like to switch it up and get a burger every once in a while too.” Bucky said.

Steve waved him off a little, his body shaking with laughter still. He had a theory that Bucky’s blood was slowly converting to alfredo sauce from the amount of it that Bucky had.

As the two joked a bit more, their waitress returned and took their orders. She shot Bucky a wink as she left the table, knowing what was going to be happening in just a little while.

Bucky had to inwardly calm himself. He was practically buzzing with excitement, finding it hard to not think about how Steve might react to the surprise proposal. He really wanted to see one of those ear-splitting smiles on his boyfriends face.

The plan was for the ring box to be in the breadsticks that were coming out a bit before their food. Bucky had come into the restaurant the day before to discuss the plan with the manager and the waitress who would be covering their table the night they came in.

It was a little bit cliché… but Bucky couldn’t help himself. He was a sucker for some cheesiness and he knew Steve would love it just as much as he did.

This was the couple that watched bad 80s movies (though they did know all the words) and commentated throughout the entire movie, pointing out plot holes and bad acting moments. Cheesiness was a staple of their Netflix queue.

Grace returned a few minutes later, setting their breadsticks down on the table. “It shouldn’t be too long until your meals are out.” She said. As she moved past their table, Grace suddenly staggered some. She fell to the ground, landing on her knees as she grabbed at a nearby table.

“Whoa!” Steve said. He got up quickly and moved to help her. “You alright?”

“J-Just a little short on breath.”

Steve and Bucky both helped Grace up as she took some deep breaths. “I’ll call 911.” Bucky said. His heart sank as he pulled his phone out and called. Not because of Grace but because he already knew that the proposal would have to wait.

\-----------------------------

Bucky: so it didn't happen tonight  
Nat: Why not? Everything was ready.  
Bucky: our waitress had a health thing and we had to call 911  
Nat: Well... you just need to do it another day. Do you want me to help you replan?  
Bucky: nah, it's ok. i'll do it in a few days. either way I know stevie will be really happy :)

\----------------------------  
A few days after the failed attempt at proposing found Bucky pacing. Not just any pacing, but I-really-want-to-propose-to-my-longtime-best-friend-and-boyfriend pacing. He turned the ring box over in his hand as he let out a huff of slight annoyance.

He had originally planned on going to a different restaurant but after the first time he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do that.

Bucky’s next idea was to go to the local art museum. It was a place that Steve and Bucky frequented on dates and it held a sense of joy for the two of them. But… Bucky figured that if he did another surprise date night that Steve might get suspicious and figure out what was going on.

Steve was sometimes a little too smart for his own good.

And Bucky really, really did not want the surprise figured out.

The brunet slid the ring box into his pocket before glancing down the street to the tattoo shop. Steve should be almost done for the day and here he was, practically loitering just down the road.

Bucky rolled his shoulders back before starting down to the shop.

As he came up to the door, Steve was already walking out. “Hey Buck.” He said. “I was just about to text you.”

“Well, I’m here. At your service, my sexy boyfriend.”

Steve grinned as he chuckled a little. “Well, oh sexy boyfriend, I want to go get some coffee. Let’s go.” The shorter man started towards a coffee place just a few buildings down that the entire staff of the tattoo shop frequented every day.

Bucky fell in line next to him, smirking to himself as he reached a hand into his pocket. He opened the box up and pulled the ring out carefully.

The two came up to a crosswalk, the coffee shop just on the other side of the side street.

Bucky quickly grabbed Steve’s hand tightly in his own.

Steve rose a brow and looked up at his boyfriend. “Buck?”

“Hold my fucking hand. We’re using the buddy system for the rest of our lives.” Bucky said. He held up the ring so Steve could get a look.

The blond’s eyes widened mouth almost agape. He was quiet for a few seconds before smiling like the giant nerd he was. “Hell yeah we are.”


End file.
